Department of Management

MASTERS OF ARTS IN GOVERNANCE AND ETHICS
Preamble
Globally, the management of workers takes place in the context of the wider environmental setting, including the fast changing patterns of public and private organizations and attitudes to work. The power and influence of public and private organizations, the rapid spread of new technologies and the impact of various socio-economic and political factors, have attracted increase attention to the concept of governance, corporate social responsibilities and business
ethics being focused on the ethical behavior and the decisions and actions of managers and staff.
This calls for the workforce to be equipped with the right skills in order to perform well to the expectations of the organizations and the societies they operate from.
It is generally recognized that in a global economy, increased business competitiveness, the move towards more customer-driven markets, advances in scientific knowledge, especially telecommunications and office automation, have led to a period of constant change and the need
for greater organizational flexibility especially among managers.
In Kenya, there have been an increasing number of people holding managerial positions in organizations operating in an environment characterized by increased technological use, high demand for quality goods and services, enhanced level of competition and an increasingly assertive workforce that at times is highly educated and experienced than even the managers themselves.
In these organizations, employees in lower echelons are increasingly pursuing higher education that is available both locally and internationally while the top managers, remaining largely constrained by factors including age, position, and programme design, among others.
Kenyan universities have over the years remained insensitive to these emerging needs especially with respect to programmes, course content, admission criteria, mode of delivery and assessment. The scenario has been that the Masters in Governance and Ethics (MGE) has been a preserve of individuals that have already pursued B. Commerce degrees, most of whom are fresh graduates without any work experience.
The proposed Mt Kenya University MGE (Executive) programme, seeks to be multi-disciplinary in nature drawing not only from the business area but also from other disciplines such as philosophy and governance, human resource management, among others. The programme would target individuals whose opinions and ideas influence policy directions and the growth path of the public and private organizations in which they work. These could be company managers,
public officers, NGO managers etc

Rationale
There is an increased demand for skills especially among chief executives and top managers who seem to be ill prepared to handle the fast changing work environment. The workplace is characterized by increasing technological, social sophistication and the number of highly trained work force. Challenges posed by these phenomena are further compounded by the rapid shift towards globalization and liberalization of national economies. These emerging trends have put
pressure on the executives to attempt to acquire new skills and knowledge in order to remain relevant especially when existing programmes. Regrettably the available MGE programmes have remained largely sensitive to the youth leaving the needs of the middle and top managers unsatisfied. It is worth noting that most issues and practical problems faced by majority of executives require appropriate mind-sets hence the need to have a programme that is decidedly
inter and multi-disciplinary in both approach and content.
Evidence available indicates that an increasing number of top managers and leaders enroll into the existing programmes only to drop out on realizing the constraining nature of existing programmes. Some end up enrolling for such programme on-line in foreign universities despite the high costs. Locally, attempts at capturing the growing interest of executives for higher degrees to upgrade their knowledge and skills have been inhibited by existing policies on mode of delivery, time and duration of programmes, admission criteria, content and assessment and grading mode among others.

Mission:
The mission of the MGE is to produce high caliber executives through a sensitive multidisciplinary
programme characterized by a dynamic mode of delivery, flexible admission
criterion, responsive timing and duration, and a good blend of theory and practical experience in
content and design.

Objectives
The main objectives of the programme are:
a) Providing opportunities to students who wish to specialize and pursue academic careers in governance and ethics through flexible admission, timing and content targeting.
b) Deepening students insights into governance and ethics and equipping students with appropriate skills and knowledge that can enable them to critically investigate, analyze and make informed judgments about governance, management of public resources both
nationally and globally.
c) Producing a pool of highly qualified and motivated governance experts that can contribute to the governance and public sector management
d) To broaden the participants’ world view through an integrated approach to the analysis of the public and private sector issues/
e) To facilitate individual consolidation of knowledge and skills through application of modern theory and experience to representative case studies and guided seminars.

Entry Requirements
A student shall be admitted to the MGE degree by satisfying the following requirements:
Either:
At least a bachelor’s degree of Mt Kenya University or any other recognized university in any area of specialization plus at least four (4) years of post-graduation work experience in a senior/top managerial and decision-making or leadership position.
Or:
A professional qualification in any specialized area (e.g. purchasing and supplies, accounting, finance, banking, insurance, human resource management, marketing and entrepreneurship  management) plus at least four (4) years work experience in a senior/top managerial, decisionmaking or leadership positions.

Duration and Strategy
The programme is designed to take between one (2) to four (4) academic years to complete A student shall be required to take a minimum of 2 units and a maximum of 5 taught units during each semester he/she enrolls with acquired grades being accumulated as and when taken.
This would enable participants that are too busy to complete their courses within the period without having to take a study leave.

N.B A student shall only take the project paper on successful completion of the 13 taught core units.